Cloud Computing – Dropbox

Posted By
matthew
On
March 20, 2012 @ 2:50 PM
In
Using The Internet |
2 Comments

Cathy from Pittsburgh writes:

What is the best way to access applications/software/files from the Internet – “The cloud”? Is it safe? Can my information be accessed from any computer?

Cloud computing is one of the best ways to store information remotely whilst being able to access that information at anytime from anywhere in the world.

Get your files - anywhere

One of the best services out there for achieving this is “Dropbox[1]“, which is a free service that allows you to bring all of your videos, pictures, music and documents into one secure place that can be accessed from anywhere on any device.

This can be done through the Dropbox website, the Dropbox smart phone app or by the Dropbox program that can be installed onto a computer, all of which are free. The user interface is incredibly easy to use, allowing for the dragging and dropping of files into the box, the items are synchronised and can then be accessed from all interfaces.

Dropbox supports all file formats

The desktop program can be told to constantly add items from a specific folder on your machine by right clicking its icon on the task bar, clicking preferences, going to advanced and clicking selective sync and choosing a folder.

It enables you to be confident that whilst your PC or Laptop may become damaged your information will still be safe and accessible.

It allows the simple sharing of files between friends and family, allowing for a link to an individual file to be shared through the public folder by right clicking it, selecting Dropbox and clicking “copy public link.”

Share files with your friends and family easily

Dropbox uses the best tools and engineering practices to create their software, with a strong emphasis on privacy and security. The service uses Secure Sockets Layer and AES-256 bit encryption, which is just incredibly fancy internet speak for the coded transmission of data.

You can therefore be assured that your information is still private even though it is stored in the internet cloud, on servers that could be thousands of miles away.

If you’re anything like me you’ll relish the thought that you’ll never have to email work to yourself again but simply work on that same piece within the Dropbox and not have multiple copies of that work floating around.

If you’d like to make sure that Dropbox is secure enough for your needs, click this link[2] for more information.